4

Is there a way to force a specific program to use less than 100% processor time even when the CPU would be idle otherwise?

Using process priority, we can adjust how much resources a given program consumes in relation to other programs.
If the process priority of a program is set to 'below normal', the program will consume less CPU time while other programs require those resources.

However when the the processor is otherwise idle, a program may utilize the CPU at 100% regardless of its process priority; thus increasing power consumption and heat.

I would like to reduce the cpu use of certain programs under these circumstances, depending on whether these programs currently have focus.

For example I would like to force Firefox to use at most 1% of the CPU whenever it has lost focus for more than 1 minute.

Is there any way to do that?

(There may be specific solutions to find and unload resource intensive tabs in Firefox, but I am mainly looking for a general solution that works for all programs)

HugoRune
  • 777

1 Answers1

0

This application can limit the cpu usage of specific processes. Although it limits the CPU consumption constantly, regardless of whether the application has focus.

Alternatively, you can try setting firefox's affinity in the task manager. This way you can make it use only specific cores of the cpu. If you have eight cores, limiting it to a single core will cap the usage at 12.5%.

Malt
  • 491